


the longest distance

by cosmicocean



Series: the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Han Solo Lives, Rey Skywalker, Rey-Centric, a cameo appearance by one anakin skywalker, and by cameo i mean VERY cameo, but i swear she's coming, mara's not in this one either, rey has a father now and she is conflicted on how to feel about him, this could be finnrey if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 00:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6588658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicocean/pseuds/cosmicocean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"time is the longest distance between two points."</p><p>Rey has found her father. The question as they attempt to get back to the Resistance base is "now what?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	the longest distance

Her father will not meet her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” he says quietly.

“I had to.” Rey steps forwards. “You know why I had to.”

“I can’t fix things. Not like you think I can.”

“You have to try.”

Luke’s face shutters. “I tried once. I don’t think the Universe can withstand me trying again.”

“You don’t understand.” She takes another step and he still won’t meet her eyes. “So many people are dead. Innocent people, whole worlds. Han almost died, my best friend almost died, he might _still_ die. Please, you _have_ to come back.”

Luke shakes his head. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he repeats. He moves to turn away from her, to raise his hood and walk away, and something in Rey snaps, because he won’t even listen to her, and he doesn’t even care, _and her father won’t meet her eyes_.

“You owe it to me,” she shouts after him. “You owe me that much.”

Luke stops and stares in shock and it is then she realizes that he thought she did not know who he was to her.

She swallows. “Where is my mother?”

Luke shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

“ _Tell_ me.” She feels the fury rise in her throat. Luke must be able to tell because his eyes flicker to her face. She takes a deep breath and focuses on what Leia told her. _You can be angry. Just don’t drown in it_. “Tell me,” she repeats, voice steadier.

“I’m telling you the truth. She left shortly before I took you to Jakku. She thought it would be safer for all of us if we stayed apart. She did it to protect you.”

_To protect her._ Rey wonders how many more people she would have in her life if they didn’t feel the need to protect her.

“You have to come with me,” she tells him. “You don’t get to leave me. Not again.”

Luke sighs. “If I come with you, it’s only going to put you in more danger.”

Rey wants to kick something. “I _am_ in danger!” she yells. “I have been shot at and had my brain poked around in! By my own damn _cousin!_ There is no more danger I can be in!” She clenches her fists and realizes abruptly that despite waiting her whole life to do so, she can’t look at her father any longer.

She turns and sits on the cliff, arms wrapped firmly across her chest, gazing out at the ocean. Luke sits next to her. She stares straight ahead.

“I dreamed of an ocean when I was a little girl,” she says. “Was it this one?”

“No. We took you to the ocean a fair amount. I wanted you to see more than I did growing up.”

“Which was where?”

“Tatooine.”

Rey can’t help but laugh. She throws her head back and lets the bitter sound bark out of her. She knows what Tatooine is, heard of it from the people who would drift through Niima Outpost. “And didn’t you just do a marvelous job?”

Luke doesn’t answer. Rey rests her chin on her knees. It’s a good five minutes before she speaks again.

“At least come back down with me to the Falcon,” she says. “Come down with me to say goodbye.”

Luke hesitates. “Okay.”

Rey stands up. “Okay.”

They don’t talk very much on the way down.

“Why do you keep looking around?” Luke asks about halfway through the walk.

“I’m not used to other planets,” she answers. “I want to see as much of them as possible.”

They don’t talk again until they reach the outcropping where the Falcon’s been parked. R2 and Chewbacca are standing by it, watching the pair of them as they come to a stop.

“I’m surprised Han didn’t come,” Luke says, gazing almost wistfully at the Falcon.

“Leia wouldn’t let him. She says if he’s still working out how to walk then he doesn’t get to fly.”

Luke’s lips twitch. “Sounds about right.” He turns to Rey. “I’m sorry that I can’t come with you.”

“Don’t be,” Rey answers calmly, and hits him in the head with the lightsaber. He doesn’t even have time to look surprised before he crumples. Rey kneels down and hauls her unconscious father over her shoulder. She can hear Chewbacca’s laughter as she slowly but surely makes her way over.

“He’s not going to like that,” R2 observes when she gets close enough for her to hear.

“I didn’t like being left on Jakku,” she replies. “Chewie?”

Chewbacca shakes his head and takes Luke from Rey, carrying him much more gently than Rey did. “Get the engine started.”

Rey nods and heads into the cockpit. Her hands are steady and she feels remarkably calm for someone who just kidnapped the last of the Jedi.

Chewbacca joins her shortly. “He’s in one of the bunks.”

“Thanks.” 

She and Chewbacca work in companionable silence, making the jump to light speed. About fifteen minutes later, she hears a groan and looks at Chewbacca.

“You’re the one who knocked him out, kid.”

Rey sighs and stands, heading out to where Luke’s rubbing his head, a vaguely confused expression on his face.

“Did you hit me?”

“You thought I was going to walk away that easily so really, you had it coming.”

Luke frowns. “I didn’t want to come back. I thought you understood that.”

She kneels in front of her father. “My aunt has lost her son,” she says clearly. “And she very nearly lost her husband. And I will not go back and look her in the eye and tell her that I didn’t bring back her brother _because_ _he didn’t want to come._ ”

Luke purses his lips but says nothing.

She gets up and heads back for the cockpit. “So you’re at least going to come talk to Leia and make sure that Han’s okay.”

“You’re not very good at being patient.”

She whips on him, feeling that clawing fury again. “Do not talk to me,” she hisses. “About _patience._ ”

“Easy,” Chewbacca rumbles, coming up behind her to put a paw on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath and nods.

Luke smiles weakly at Chewbacca. “Hi, Chewie.”

“Hi, kid.” Chewbacca gives him a fond hug with a pat on the head. R2 whistles and rolls up to Luke. Rey leaves them to it and heads into the cockpit, unwilling to witness any happy reunions at the moment. They’re reasonably close to their destination and so she hits the transmission button.

“D’Qar, this is the _Millennium Falcon_ , announcing arrival.”

Static. She frowns.

“Repeat, D’Qar, this is the Falcon, we’re coming in.”

Just white noise.

“Base, it’s Rey. What’s going on?”

Nothing.

Don’t panic.

The console beeps, letting her know she needs to pull out of lightspeed. She pulls the lever back and gazes at the planet.

At any given time, there are ships flying in and out of D’Qar. Whether it’s refugee transports from places attacked by the First Order or pilots returning from recon missions, there’s always some kind of activity. Even in the rare occasion that there isn’t, there’s always radio chatter.

There’s only silence.

“Chewbacca,” she calls, doing her best to keep her voice even. “I need you to come in here and man the landing.”

Chewbacca comes in. “What’s going on?”

“It’s too quiet.” She gets out of her seat and grabs her blaster. She turns to Luke and holds up the lightsaber. “If I give this to you, will you use it?” Luke’s eyes flicker from her to the lightsaber. She lets out a frustrated sigh and grips it. “Fine.”

“Rey, it’s not safe being out there, there could be-“

She ignores him as they land, jumping out of the ship to see the silent remnants of chaos. A few ships have been destroyed. The buildings are smoking slightly still, and the bottom of Rey’s stomach falls out.

“No,” she whispers. She runs for the main base. “Han! Leia! BB-8! Finn! Poe!”

There’s no response. The buildings are deserted, ceilings fallen in and scorch marks littering the halls. She staggers out of the main base and throws up behind a tree. Almost instantly she feels soft arms cradling her.

“It’s all right.” Chewbacca’s tone is a little shaky but almost determinedly calm. “Rey, it’s fine.”

“There’s nobody here,” she gasps. “Chewie, there’s nobody here.”

“I would have felt it.” Luke kneels in front of them. “Rey, look at me. I felt it when Han was stabbed. If he or Leia had died, I would have felt it. I would know.”

That doesn’t answer for what happened to Finn or BB-8 or Poe, if their bodies lie under twisted metal rubble. But it’s a start. She nods. 

“Okay. Okay.” She pats Chewbacca’s shoulder gently and he releases her. “We need a plan.” She kneels in front of R2, who also seems to be mournfully scanning the base, looking for fallen comrades. “R2, do you know what the next location for the base was in case of attack?”

“No. The Princess kept them stored in the main computer and it wouldn’t talk to me.”

Rey smiles a little weakly. “It wouldn’t talk to you because you swore at it violently when it wouldn’t let you in.” She takes a deep breath and turns to Chewbacca. “Do you still keep your ear to the ground in the smuggling channels?”

Chewbacca tilts his head. “Maybe. Why?”

“I need you to find Maz Kanata.”

 

Chewbacca’s working his way through several transmissions in the cockpit. Rey’s drawing in a small journal Poe gave her as a going away present.

“I don’t know if you’re going to have time to draw while you’re out there,” he’d said to her. “From what the General said, Skywalker may have you carry him on his back as part of training.”

Rey had rolled her eyes. “She’s making that up. And it’s perfect. Thank you.” She’d given him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and he’d ruffled her hair affectionately.

Now she draws. She sketches out Finn the way she’d seen him on Starkiller when he’d come to rescue her, the first person that ever came back for her. She draws the way she’d seen him, honest and glowing and wonderful.

“You’re pretty good at that.” 

Rey turns around to see Luke hesitantly looking over her shoulder. “Thanks.”

“You didn’t get that from your mother.” He sits across from her. “She couldn’t draw a stick figure.”

Rey doesn’t know what to say to that so she shrugs awkwardly.

“Who’s that?”

“Finn. Without him I wouldn’t be here.” She traces the lines delicately with the very tip of her finger, just enough that it won’t smudge. “He was a stormtrooper for the First Order. But he wasn’t who they wanted him to be, so he escaped. He was going to run as far away as he could. But then he came back.” Rey smiles. “He came back for me.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He’s a hero. He went up against Ren.” Her smile fades. “Ren cut him down in the back. He was still unconscious when I left.”

Luke’s hand hovers for a moment before it lands on her shoulder. “We’ll find them, Rey.”

Rey gazes at her father for a moment, remembers that gently comforting tone like it was in a dream. Then she stands. “I should go help Chewie with the transmissions.”

She heads for the cockpit without looking back and sits next to Chewbacca. “How’s it looking?”

“She’s rebuilding in the forests of Naboo. We’re on our way.” He side eyes her. Rey always thought it was vaguely impressive, the way that Wookiees managed to side eye even with all the fur. “He was doing what he thought was best, you know.”

Rey focuses on the dials she’s turning. “He was wrong.”

“I’m not saying he wasn’t. But that’s the thing you learn about Skywalkers.” Chewbacca hits a button. “Beneath all their cataclysmic actions lies a good intention.”

 

Naboo is even greener than Takodana was. Rey could explode with it as they come closer up on the planet. Luke and R2 sidle into the cockpit as a transmission crackles through.

“Oncoming ship, state your intentions.”

Chewbacca gestures towards the receiver and Rey leans forwards. “Base, tell Maz Kanata that Rey-“ she hesitates. “Rey Solo wishes to speak with her.” She ignores Luke’s slight flinch that she sees out of the corner of her eye. She’s not going to feel bad about it. She’s _not_. “If she has a moment, please.” Her lips twitch. “Tell her that I’ve got her boyfriend with her.”

Chewbacca glares at Rey as the reply comes in. “Falcon, you are cleared for landing.”

They land the ship in a densely wooded area. In the distance she can see what looks like a giant temple. She sighs. “I miss my landspeeder.”

“Mine too,” Luke mutters. 

Rey glances at Luke. “What model did you have?”

“An X-34. You?”

“I built mine myself.”

Luke’s eyes gleam. “Really?”

“I used twin-turbojet engines off an old cargo hauler.”

Luke grins at her. “Nicely done.”

She grins back. “Thank you.” She realizes that it’s the first time her father has smiled at her since she found him again. Maybe he realizes it too, because he clears his throat and looks away awkwardly.

“We should get moving.”

“Yeah.”

Rey uses her staff as a walking stick slightly. She’s still getting used to new terrains, and her body still aches sometimes if she doesn’t have a support. By the time they reach the temple, it is evening. The temple is large and gorgeous, stone with intricately carved designs painted gold weaving alongside it. The doors are huge.

“I can’t open those,” Rey says.

“Open your mind,” Luke answers. “Use the Force.”

R2-D2 rolls up to a small data port and plugs into it, tool whirring. The doors swing open.

“Or that.” Luke sounds vaguely crestfallen. “Do that.”

This time when they roll into the lobby of Maz’s home, the temple long since divided into levels and room, no doubt long before Maz even got there, she is waiting for them. She looks up at Luke with a fond smile.

“Luke Skywalker,” she says. “Back again.”

Luke smiles back. “Hello, Maz.”

“It is good to see you, child. I think you may be able to help us, in the end.” She turns her attention to Rey. “Look at you, young Rey. You’ve grown into your skin a little more since I saw you last, I think.”

Rey doesn’t know how to answer that, so she shrugs a little. 

“A new last name, I see.”

She shifts uncomfortably under Luke’s curious eye. “I didn’t _have_ a last name when I was here before.”

“You didn’t have a last name?” Luke asks in surprise.

“I didn’t remember yours. No one gave me one on Jakku.”

Luke looks away. “Oh.”

Maz watches the interaction thoughtfully. She pats R2 on the head, which he acknowledges with a chirp, before she turns to Chewbacca with a wide grin.

“Hello, handsome.”

“Hello, Maz,” Chewbacca answers, sounding grudgingly fond despite himself.

“Come down here, give me a hug.”

Chewbacca kneels down to hug Maz. R2 makes a lewd comment and they part, Maz slapping the top of his dome.

“The speakers on you, I swear.”

“We came for a reason,” Rey says.

“The location of the new Resistance base.”

“Yes.”

“My sources should have it to me in the morning. You sleep here tonight.”

Luke inclines her head. “Thank you, Maz.”

“I’ll have you shown to your quarters. First. How is Han?”

Rey breaks into a wide smile. “He’s doing well, Miss Kanata.”

“Miss Kanata!’ Maz points at Luke. “I like her more than you.”

“It’s a running theme,” Luke mutters. Maz rolls her eyes with a sigh.

“ _You_ ,” she says, raising her finger higher. “Have only been a father to her in time past her memory. Her only knowledge of you is as the man who left her. Of course she’s going to take the last name of her Uncle! Lose your bitterness, Skywalker.”

Luke looks startled. Rey is grateful when seconds later, four guides appear to take them to their rooms. 

 

Rey is brushing her hair out. Han had done her hair before he left.

_(“I’m surprised you kept the three bun hairstyle, kid,” Han tells her while he squints at his work. “I wasn’t particularly impressed with it when I finished it.”_

_Rey’d look behind her, if Han didn’t have fistfuls of her hair. “_ You _did my hair before I left?”_

_“Your aunt’s probably better at it. But she and Luke were discussing Jedi business in low voices in the corner and you came up to me and asked me to do it.”_

_“How did it go?”_

_“It… wasn’t my finest work. But you loved it.”_

_Rey smiles. “I love it now.”_

_Han grins a little, twisting her hair gently.)_

But it’s never been particularly comfortable to sleep in, so she’s let it out. Having a real brush is amazing to her. She’s wearing a white nightgown that has sheer white fabric softly pillowing out on top and as sleeves. It’s softer than anything she ever touched on Jakku. She finishes brushing her hair and is about to step into bed when there’s a knock on her door. She stands and opens it.

Maz stands before her, a small velvety tan pouch in her hands.

“Oh. Hello.”

“Were you preparing to sleep?”

“No, ma’am.”  
“Good. I want you to take this and tell me if it speaks to you.” Maz walks into her room and Rey sits on the bed. Maz pulls something from the pouch. It’s a carved Japor snippet, hung on brown cord. It looks like the snippet’s seen many years.

“It was carved by a little boy for the girl he loved over sixty years ago,” she says, watching Rey’s face. “When the woman died, it was placed around her neck. It was taken from her tomb by grave robbers and it found its way to me.”

Rey reaches out hesitantly and takes the necklace from Maz, and it is like the world blinks.

 

_She is standing in the entrance of a gazebo by an ocean that she knows somehow is Naboo’s. There is two children and a woman in the gazebo, the woman sitting on the bench while the children play with marbles. The girl wears a white dress with her brown hair done in tiny, intricate buns and the boy has sandy blond hair in a loose white tunic._

_“I win!” The girl cries triumphantly. “Mama, did you see?”_

_The woman smiles down at the little girl. The woman is ethereally beautiful. She wears a very softly yellow dress decorated in green stitching and little bundles of fabric gathered to look like flowers. Her brown hair is gathered into a bun with white flowers stuck through the middle of it._

_“I did! It was very good.”_

_The sound of a speeder hums through what the grounds of what Rey can now see is an opulent mansion, sitting by the water._

_“Papa’s home!” The boy yells._

_“Mama, come see Papa,” the girl implores as she and the boy scramble to their feet. There is something Rey recognizes in the boy’s eyes, something she recognizes in the girl’s face._

_“I’ll come see Papa soon, sweetheart,” the woman promises. “Tell Papa that Mama has some Senatorial business to attend to, all right?”_

_The children nod and dash off. Rey turns to watch them sprint across green grounds to be caught by a distant figure whose laugh can be heard even from the gazebo. He hoists the little boy onto his shoulders and lifts the little girl into his arms, and they head into the mansion._

_“This isn’t real,” Rey says slowly, turning back to the woman. The joy is gone from her face, replaced mostly by sadness. But there is still a light there, something of happiness, when she looks at Rey. “This never happened.”_

_“It didn’t,” the woman confirms. She holds out her hand. “Walk with me?”_

_Rey takes the woman’s hand. It is soft and warming in a way she can’t place._

_“What is this place?”_

_“It’s an echo of a possibility. A chance, once, that this might have happened. It seemed like a fitting setting to talk with you, Rey.”_

_“I don’t know your name.”_

_She smiles. “My name is Padmé. I need to tell you a story, Rey.”_

_They step down stone steps smoothed over time onto the beach. Rey feels the cool beach sand under her feet, so different from the desert sand she had come to know._

_“What’s the story?”_

_“Once there was a boy. And he loved a girl. And the girl loved him back, and they wed, and she became with child, and it was thought all would be well.” She and Rey walk hand in hand along the edge of the water, the sun sparkling crystal on ripples. “But there was bitterness lurking in the boy, and the bitterness turned to rage, and the boy could not help but drown in that rage. It left an opening for the Dark Side to creep in, and it tore apart not only his family, but the entire galaxy.”_

_They stop right before the water will hit their toes. “Rey,” she says, bordering on urgent. “You can’t let the bitterness swallow you. Your father left you and you can be angry. But you have to swim above the anger, swim above the bitterness. Don’t let it overcome you. Don’t let the cycle continue.”_

_The only sound for a moment is the soft lapping of the water._

_“Those were my aunt and father, weren’t they?” Rey asks. “The children. That was Leia and Luke.”_

_Padmé smiles. “Clever child.”_

_“Then I know who you must be.”_

_Padmé doesn’t answer, but reaches out, still holding Rey’s hand, and closes the Japor snippet still in Rey’s other hand into a loose fist around it as Rey tries to memorize everything about her face._

_“The worlds will bend around these hands someday,” Padmé says. “Make sure they bend in offerings of peace, and not ways of war.”_

_Padmé stands on her tiptoes and kisses Rey’s cheek. “Say hello to your father and your aunt for me,” she says a little wistfully. “Keep the necklace. Remember.”_

 

“Rey!”

Rey gasps as though she was coming out of cold water. Luke is grabbing onto her shoulders, gazing into her eyes, face full of fear. Rey recognizes for the first time an emotion in her father that isn’t touched by sadness.

Her father cares about her.

“Rey, are you all right?”

Her father _cares_ about her _._

This moment, that expression of fear. That’s all she needs to know, more than any act of leaving her behind on a desert planet is supposed to tell her.

She’s still angry. But it’s not so oppressive as it was before. She can’t taste the bitterness on her tongue. It’s not peace. But it’s a start.

“ _Rey._ ”

She blinks and looks into her father’s frightened face. Chewbacca and R2-D2 are there as well, Chewbacca’s face expressing nothing but concern and R2 letting out some rapid-fire beeps that also seem to indicate both worry and swearing. 

“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She swallows. Maz’s face holds none of the worry that the others have and she suspects Maz knows at least the gist of what just happened.

Luke nods. “Good.” There’s something tender in his face that she feels like she could reach out and touch. Before she gets the chance, he stands and whirls on Maz.

“What did you do to her?” he demands furiously.

“Luke-“

“Did you know that whatever it was would cause that to happen to her?”

“ _Luke-_ “

“What if it did worse, Maz? What if she-“

“ _Papa!_ ”

She and Luke freeze at once. Rey’s not sure where the outburst came from, how the name slipped unbidden from her tongue. She clears her throat.

“Maz did the right thing. It was good, what this showed me.” She holds up the necklace. “Padmé wanted me to have this.”

Luke’s brow furrows. “Padmé? Who’s Padmé?”

Rey looks at the necklace. “She said I should keep it,” she decides. “But I think you should have it. She was your mother, not mine.”

“My mother?” Luke stares. “You spoke to my mother?”

Rey’s brow furrows. “I told you I spoke to Padmé. She said to say hello to you and Leia.”

“No, I just.” He swallows. “I never knew my mother’s name.”

Rey frowns and holds the necklace out further. Luke shakes his head.

“No. If that’s part of our legacy, you should keep it. She asked for you to. Just maybe… maybe tell me what she looked like sometimes?”

Rey nods with a tentative smile. “I’d like that.”

Maz, who has remained silent this whole time, finally speaks. “Those co-ordinates will be ready for you in the morning. I’ll see you then. Good night, children.” She slips out of the room, leaving Rey and Luke to stare.

“She does enjoy being enigmatic,” Luke observes with a shake of the head. Rey snorts. He gets up to leave. She finds herself blurting out “Wait!” and he turns in surprise.

“I could, um.” She turns the necklace around in her hands. “I could tell you about her now? If you wanted?”

Luke smiles slowly and sits down on the bed. “I’d like that.”

 

She wakes from a nightmare whimpering. Her father is lying down next to her, having evidently fallen asleep by her side. He doesn’t seem to be fully awake when he throws an arm across her and murmurs “shh, you’re all right.”

Rey’s half conscious brain obeys, curling into her father and falling back asleep to dreams of white flowers and oceans.

 

Maz gives her a thin data stick.

“Plug this into the _Falcon_ ,” she says. “These are the co-ordinates to the place you seek.”

Rey has changed into the clothes Maz had given her, keeping her own tucked away in her bag. The loose dark jacket and black pants are also softer than what she was accustomed to on Jakku. She thinks she may be beginning to like it. Luke had denied a change of clothing, but his robe appears to at least have been cleaned. The necklace hangs over her black shirt. She has done her hair back into her three buns.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Kanata.”

Maz smiles. “A desert child full of manners.” She pokes Luke. “The same cannot be said for you.” 

Luke rolls his eyes but shakes Maz’s hand anyway. “Goodbye, Maz.”

“Take care, Luke Skywalker.” She yanks on Chewbacca’s arm so unexpectedly that he bends down and she kisses him on the cheek. “Goodbye, Chewbacca. I enjoy our kisses goodbye. Even if you’re so furry.”

Rey’s positive that if she could tell Chewbacca was flushing, he would be. “Bye, Maz.”

R2 teases him. Maz kicks him lightly.

“Go on, all of you. I’ve tired of looking at you.”

Rey smiles, and she boards the _Falcon_.

 

They come out of hyperspace over a gorgeous blue world that seems to be primarily oceans. Immediately Rey gets the call on the radio.

“Approaching freighter, what is your designation?”

“Base, this is _Millennium Falcon_ , announcing arrival.”

There’s a pause.

“Falcon, you have been cleared for landing.”

Rey and Chewbacca set the ship down slowly on the largest patch of land that seems to be the main base, Rey almost vibrating with excitement. The second she is able, she runs down the ramp, frantically searching. What she’s looking for is there almost immediately, beaming wide and running towards her.

“Rey!”

She laughs as Finn picks her up around the middle and swings her in a wide arc over his shoulder. “Put me _down_ , Finn!” she says without any real insistence in her voice. He does so anyway and she wraps her arms around him tight.

“I’m so glad you found us,” he whispers. “The General didn’t want to send the transmission of our location to you just in case.”

“I understand. I wouldn’t have either.”

Finn releases her and she grins wide at the sight of Poe approaching. She holds her arms out and he hugs her, picking her up off her feet a little.

“I knew you were flying it the second I saw that expert job you did.”

Rey laughs. “And I knew you were approaching once I smelled your cockiness.”

Poe laughs too. Rey pulls back slightly as Luke walks down the ramp hesitantly. There’s a slight hush on the base. Rey walks up to her father and tugs on his sleeve, pulling him towards Finn and Poe.

“Luke, these are my friends, Finn and Poe Dameron. Finn, Poe, this is Luke Skywalker, last Jedi master. And my father.”

Luke shakes each of their hands. “Poe Dameron. I remember when you were no higher than my knee.”

Poe grins. “Yes, sir.”

“And Finn.” Luke smiles. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Wonderful things,” he adds when Finn shuffles a little. “Nothing but wonderful things.”

The hush dims to silence and Rey turns to see Leia approaching, Han limping slightly on only one crutch now. Leia’s steps falter once she sees Rey and Luke looking at her. Luke walks up to her alone until he is standing in front of her.

Leia slaps him. Rey winces.

“That’s for leaving,” Leia says, voice steady. Then she pulls her brother into a tight hug. “That’s for coming back.”

It’s like the entire base breathes a sigh of relief. Chatter resumes. When Luke pulls away from Leia, Han reaches out and ruffles his hair.

“Good to see you, kid.”

Luke beams. “Good to see you too, Han.” For a moment, Rey can see a younger man in her father’s face, someone with less sadness and expanse of exhaustion.

Han sees Rey and holds the arm not supported by a crutch out to her. “What the hell are you wearing?”

“A gift from Maz.” She grins as she approaches him. “I look spiffier than you do, old man.”

“ _Nobody_ looks spiffier than me. You look pretty all right, tough, I guess.” He pulls her into a one armed hug. “Come here.”

Rey smiles, pressing her face into Han’s shoulder. It is like she is moved from her uncle to her aunt, Leia enveloping her in warmth.

“Thank you,” she breathes into her ear. Rey smiles and holds on a little tighter in response.

“I didn’t come back entirely on my own, you know,” Luke tells them. “In the interest of full disclosure. Rey knocked me out with the hilt of the lightsaber.”

Han’s eyes light up. “You did?” Rey nods uncertainly. “Oh, I am going to have to hear about this.”

Rey laughs. She tosses her head back and she laughs and laughs and thinks all the while _yes, perhaps this will be fine._

**Author's Note:**

> It's here! Finally.
> 
> I do have a threequel planned in which we FINALLY meet Mara Jade herself. When I actually get it finished, however, I'm not 100% sure on. Hopefully soon.
> 
> Rey's nightgown: http://40.media.tumblr.com/e0e80672514e0d39e5fe896246c48ccc/tumblr_nxvucej1Qt1un9u1mo1_500.jpg  
> Padmé's dress and hairstyle:  
> http://40.media.tumblr.com/548e6c2a8a1986f68e45affa5b0b9aca/tumblr_o0r3v41CJ01un9u1mo1_500.jpg  
> http://41.media.tumblr.com/a037a01a305460457ebc8a9c56aded8e/tumblr_nz2igxrwiu1un9u1mo1_500.jpg  
> Rey's departure clothes:  
> http://40.media.tumblr.com/10a366b4d17c1a1c9e6b11e934cc6e7c/tumblr_o2ayrmjSpx1urzd83o1_1280.jpg
> 
> Shoutout to starwarsstyle and attackoftheclothes on tumblr for being amazing databases for clothing!


End file.
